Car-coupling



(No Model.) H. A. GILES.

GAR COUPLING. V N0.-331,1Z6. Patented Nov. 24, 1885.

WITJVm s NIT ED STATES ATENT trio,

HARVEY A. GILES, or Dows, IOWA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,126, dated November24, 18235 Application filed September 28, 1885. Serial No. 178,414. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARVEY A. (James, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Dows, in the county of Wright and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplings; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention,

1 which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of the front end of a railroad-car provided with myimproved car-coupling, and Fig. 2 is a top view of two couplings coupledtogether.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both thefigures.

My invention has relation to that class of car-couplings in which a longbail or link is pivoted at one end to swing in a horizontal plane, so asto engage a hook upon the opposite coupling; and it consists in theimproved construction and combination of parts of the same, ashereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates the draw-head,which is formed with a laterally-projecting horn or hook, B, and with arecess, 0, in its outer end, having a vertical perforation, D, passingthrough it, the said recess and perforation being for the reception ofthe usual pin and link, where the coupling is used in connection with acar having the common pin-andlink coupling. The draw-head has a verticalperforation, E, at the inner end of the same and at the edge opposite tothe edge having the hook, and a pin, F, passes through the saidperforation, and has the inner perforated ends, G and H, of a long loopor bail, I, pivoted upon it above and below the draw-head, swinging in ahorizontal plane. The inner end of the lower arm of the bail or link isextended to form an arm, J, and a chain, K,is attached to the end ofthis arm, and a similar chain, K, is attached to the lower arm of thelink at the same distance forward of the perforation and the pin as theother chain is back of the said perforation and pin. These chains areprovided with spiral springs L attheir middles, and are secured at theirouter ends to the ends of a bar or lever, M, attached at its middle to avertical shaft, N, j ournaled in vertical bearings upon the front of thecar. The upper end of this shaft is provided with a hand-wheehO, foroperating it, and near the upper end of the shaft is secured a coggedwheel, P, which is engaged by the upper end of a verticallyslidingspring-bolt, Q, having a treadle or foot-piece, R, at its upper end tothe side of the portion engaging the cogged wheel. The lower portion ofthis spring-bolt is connected by means of links S to two bell-cranklevers, T and U, one, T, of which has its other arm projecting out tothe side of the car, while the other bell-crank, U, has a rod, V,attached to its other arm, to the outer end of which rod a lever, W, ispivotally attached, the said lever and the bell-crank levers beingpivoted upon the front end of the car. It will now be seen that when twocouplings are brought to gethcr the links may first be thrown to thesides by turning the hand-wheel, and after the ends of the draw-headshave come together the links may be tilted, so as to engage the hooks ofthe opposite draw-heads, thus coupling the draw-heads. The springs inthe chains connecting the links with the tilting levers upon thevertical shafts will serve to allow the links to yield slightly to bothsides, as the 7 cars will sway from one side to the other during travel,the springs keeping the links in engagement with the hooks andpreventing them from being forced out by any motion of the cars. Thespring-bolt will hold the cogged wheel and through it the verticalshaftin position as adjusted, and the links can neither be coupled oruncoupled without disengaging the said spring-boltfrom the cog-wheel,the springbolt being either depressed by the treadle from the top of thecar or by drawing either the outer bell-crank lover or the lever at theother side of the car outward, the said bell-crank lever and hand-leverbeing applied to the front of the car for the purpose of releasing theoperating-shaft from the ground, the person standing at the side of thecar. After the end of the vertical operating -shaft. The spring-bolt maybe of any other suitable constructionas, for instance, it may be a leverpivoted upon the top of the car and having one end engaging the cogs ofthe wheel,while the other end has a spring bearing upward against it,and a rod may pass down the front end of the cara'nd be pivoted to acrank upon a horizontally-journaled shaft upon the front of the car,said shaft having suitable handles or levers at its ends for tilting it.The link is somewhat wider than the thickness of the draw-head, so thatit may be moved up and down upon the bolt, and a washer, X, may beplaced upon the pin or bolt either above or below the draw-head for thepurpose of supporting the link to enable it to engage hooks upon eitherhigh or low cars, as the occasion may require it.

Having thus described my invention, I claim anddesire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- 1. In a car-coupling, thecombination of a draw-head having a laterallyrprojecting hook, a linkpivoted at its inner end upon the drawhead to swing in a horizontalplane and to engage the hook of the opposite draw-head, and chains foroperating the said link having springs for cushioning the lateral motionof the link, the said chains being attached to the link and drawing itin opposite directions, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination of a draw-head having alaterally-projecting hook at one side and a vertical perforation at theinner end of the other side, a bolt passing through the saidperforation, a link pivoted at its ends upon this bolt, swinging outsideof the forward end of the draw-head, and having the inner end of itslower arm extended beyond the pivotal point, and operating-chainssecured to the lower arm of the link atequal distances from the pivotalpoint in front and to the rear of the same and having springs at theirmiddles, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination of a draw-head having alaterally-projecting hook at one side and a vertical perforation at theinner end of the other side, a bolt passing through the saidperforation, a link pivoted upon the said bolt to swing forward of thedraw-head and having the rear end of its lower arm extended beyond thepivotal point, a

Washer placed upon the bolt between the link and the draw-head, avertical shaft having a hand-wheel at its upper end and means forsecuring it in its adjusted position and pro- Vided with a lever at itsend, and chains secured to the ends of the leverand to the lower arm ofthe link at equal distances from the pivotal point and provided withyielding springs, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingas my own I have hereunto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARVEY A. GILES.

Witnesses:

F. M. WILLIAMS, ALIoE WILLIAMS.

